Kindling the Spark
by MoonOfPluto
Summary: Katniss and Gale have returned from the Hunger Games together, but their actions had serious repercussions. Will they play President Snow's dangerous games to stay alive or will they throw caution to the wind and kindle the spark of rebellion? Sequel to I Volunteer.
1. Home

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, Catching Fire or Mockingjay. These wonderful books are property of Suzanne Collins.

1: Home

Katniss POV

A few months have passed since I came back to District 12 since the Hunger Games. At first it was a bit chaotic, but now I've settled down into a routine. Wake up, breakfast. Talk with family, visit Gale. Go and hunt, come back for lunch. Sell at the Hob. Teach a poor kid from the Seam, Melanie, how to hunt. Dinner time. Spend the evening with my family.

As I exit the house to go to train Melanie, I catch sight of Gale. He is leading Rory out of the house, probably to the woods. I wish Prim would learn to hunt, so she could feed herself if I die, but she won't. Prim is too caring to do that, even to animals. I don't really want to take that away from her, it's part of what makes Prim Prim.

I run down to my old house, an agreed meeting place for Melanie and I. I only have to wait a few minutes before she turns up. Her head bobs around the corner, dark hair flopping in her face. She has the typical seam look, just like Gale and I. Slim, muscular figure, dark hair, grey-blue eyes. She has a bow strapped over her back and is wearing suitable clothes for hunting.

"Katniss," she greets breathlessly. "Sorry I'm late, lunch went on for longer than expected."

I brush off her apology with a simple, "are you ready to go hunting?" Her eyes light up and she nods eagerly. I can tell that she likes hunting a lot, not just because of the food. She just seems more powerful and at peace in the woods. I remember the feeling, when I first started hunting.

The satisfaction when I made my first kill with the bow and arrow, the power I felt as my skills began to improve. It isolated me from others my age, but it was worth the sacrifice. Being in the woods just makes me feel more free, more aware. Like nothing really matters but the heat of the moment, where nobody is watching.

She bounds after me and ducks through the fence wires easily. I lead her a way into the woods and tell her to listen. That's one of the most important things to do whilst hunting. To be aware of the environment. I hear the crunch of leaves and immediately tense up. I nock an arrow instinctively.

That's not something that happened before. This is the lingering instincts from the Hunger Games, where being unprepared or hesitating could get you killed. I keep the arrow ready, but gesture with my head that Melanie should take the shot. Melanie nocks an arrow easily, a large contrast to her clumsy movements a few months ago.

She steadies the arrow and lets it fly towards the area of the rustling. I hear a bit more rustling. She missed. Without thinking, I release my arrow, hitting a squirrel directly through the eye. Melanie looks very disappointed with her failure. I head towards the kill and pick it up.

"That was a good try," I tell Melanie. "But for now, you need to aim more before shooting. Make sure you know exactly where the animal is. It takes a lot of practice to shoot instinctively like I did." Her face falls slightly. I know that she wanted to become as good as Gale and I with bows and arrows quickly.

We continue hunting for a while and Melanie catches a rabbit on her own. I manage to catch another two squirrels and a blackbird. The prey that doesn't go to Melanie's family at the end of the day is given to other hungry families in the Seam. This has made us some of the most popular people in Twelve.

The feeling is quite odd. I was always respected in the Hob, partly because of my game and partly because of my father. But being known all over the District, and being loved for defying the Capitol is different. It doesn't feel right and it makes it hard to know who likes you for you or for your money or reputation.

When I get home, Peeta is in the house talking to Prim. They are eating bread and laughing over something. I am grateful to Peeta for helping to feed my family when I was away, but I'm not sure why he keeps doing it now. Now we have more money than pretty much everyone in the District, we can afford to buy bread. And Peeta's not the type of person who would be my friend just for my reputation.

Peeta and Prim get along very well. Peeta and I are pretty good friends, but Prim has really taken a shine to him. I think it's because he's quite peaceful and gentle like her. She has often said she feels impatient around Gale and I because we're both so hate-fuelled towards many things, but I don't think Peeta has it in him to hate.

"Hi Peeta," I call to him as I out my bow away.

"Katniss," he says, standing up in surprise. "I didn't see you there. How was hunting?" he asks.

"It was good, I caught a few squirrels and Melanie caught a rabbit," I reply. Prim recoils slightly in disgust at the thought of this. She wants me to use my victory money to help Melanie and the others in the Seam, but I want her to be able to survive without me. Prim hates hunting.

"Look what Peeta brought over!" Prim says excitedly. I look towards the table and see a box containing four beautiful cupcakes. One for me, one for him, one for Prim and one for mum. Nice of him. The cupcakes are delicately iced and he has created our faces using the icing. I'd quite like to do that, I think to myself, remembering a failed ten minutes at the camouflage station in training. Peeta would be great at camouflage.

I nearly laugh at the fact that the ability to decorate cupcakes would be able to help in the Hunger Games, but then I realise that I am linking a lot of things to the Hunger Games now. But I can't run away from the past, I remind myself. I can't change what happened and even if I could, I wouldn't. If I hadn't gone in then Prim would and she and Peeta probably wouldn't be alive now.

"They look nice," I tell him. "How did you make them?"

"Simple cake recipe," he says. "And a bit of fondant icing. It's not complicated. Prim learned how to ice a cupcake a few days ago." I turn to Prim, who nods.

"That's nice," I tell her. Each to their own I suppose and Prim is definitely more of a baker than a hunter. Maybe Peeta still comes over because of his friendship with Prim and me. Whatever the reason, I'm not going to complain. His bread and cakes taste very good and he makes Prim happier and helped our family.

Whenever Gale comes over he seems a bit hostile towards Peeta though. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because Peeta got away with staying out of the Hunger Games or because he lived the pampered life of a merchant kid. I don't think Gale has ever liked Peeta that much, only tolerated him. Because of this, they tend to stay away from each other mostly.

"How's Melanie doing?" Peeta asks me. Maybe he's hoping for another hunter to start bringing around cleanly shot prey to sell to his family. Most of the other hunters bring theirs in with arrows through the body.

"Better than I thought she would," I admit. "She has a talent with the bow and arrow, she's only been training for about two months and she can already shoot some moving targets."

"Maybe it's that you're a good teacher," he suggests.

"Maybe," I reply. "But she's good anyway."

I decide to leave Prim and Peeta to whatever it is they were doing before I came in, taking my cupcake and thanking Peeta as I go out. I don't have much common ground to talk about with Peeta. He's a nice boy and he did save my life probably a few years back, but I still find it hard to relate to him over anything.

His problems are about his mum shouting at or hitting him. My problems are about putting a convincing act for the victory tour and mentoring. His hobbies are baking and frosting. Mine are hunting and training. He makes a better friend for Prim than for me, despite the two year age gap now that Prim is thirteen.

I decide to visit Gale. He's back at his house now with Rory after the afternoon that they spent setting snares and hunting. I open the door and go straight in, Gale gave me a key. His house is nicely decorated. It is minimalistic like mine, but has some nice touches that make it comfortable and homely.

"Gale!" I call him.

I hear him rush down the stairs and see come to a stop in front of me. "Katniss," he says. "Why are you here?"

"Peeta and Prim were having a meeting at my house, I didn't want to interrupt them," I reply. I hug him in greeting and give him a short kiss, which he returns. He has put on a bit of weight since the games, which is unsurprising, so now he has a thin layer of soft fat around him.

"So what do you want to do?" Gale asks me.

"I don't know. Just talk I guess," I reply. I've needed to talk to Gale about our future for a while. "What are we going to do now?" I ask him. "The Capitol won't leave us alone after we defied them. What do we do for the victory tour?"

"Same thing we did in the Games," Gale replies. "Make our love for each other so obvious that even the Capitolites can understand it. I was thinking," he says, "that I should propose to you."

Gale proposing? That would be a great show for the Capitol, but that's just not what I want my proposal to be. A great show for the Capitol. I want that moment to be just me and Gale, in the woods or somewhere private. I want it to be for me, not for an audience of Capitolites.

"That is a good idea," I say slowly. "But are you sure you want that moment to be in front of so many Capitolites?" I ask, hoping he will say no.

"Of course not!" Gale replies angrily. Not anger to me, but anger to our situation. "But as far as I see it, that will be the only thing that will really convince them of our love."

"I guess," I reply. "This isn't just about us getting out alive now." Gale nods and I rest my head on his shoulder. It feels good to relax on him, just me and him. The way I wanted it to start out. It is a nice moment as our breathing synchronises and we feel almost as one person.

It is interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Grumbling, Gale and I get up to answer it. I can't think who it would be since anyone who would be here would have a key. We open the door and I look into the face of the person I least wanted to see. President Snow. His cold, snake-like eyes stare into mine for a moment, then he asks, "may I come in?"

We know better than to refuse him.

xXx-X-xXx

Cliffhanger on the first chapter.. Sorry. Anyway, this is the first chapter of the sequel to I Volunteer. If you haven't read that one already, please read it because this one probably won't make much sense without it. So what do you think of the story so far?

-MoonOfPluto


	2. President Snow

2: President Snow

Gale POV

I don't have much of a choice here. It may be my house, but President Snow calls all the shots. "Of course," I say, bowing my head slightly and opening the door. We lead him into the living room and sit down. Snow is exactly as I remembered him from the Capitol: around eighty years old, calculating eyes, large, blood red lips and the smells of enhanced roses and blood on his breath.

President Snow enters the house with small, slow steps. "Thank you Mr Hawthorne. I was wondering if I could borrow a moment of yours and Miss Everdeen's time," he requests.

"Of course," Katniss says through gritted teeth. When it comes to Snow, she's not very good at hiding her hate. If she had a bow and arrow right now, I could guarantee that he would be dead with an arrow through his eye. We lead him into the living room and sit down. He leans over the table.

"Miss Everdeen, Mr Hawthorne, have you perhaps thought upon your actions in the Games?" he asks slowly.

"We have," I respond.

"And did you come to the conclusion that you are in a.." he pauses for a second, "delicate," he says finally relishing the word, "position?"

"We noticed," Katniss says drily.

"Yes, your act of love could have easily been seen as an act of rebellion," he agrees with her. "And that is bad for all of us, isn't it? You would be putting yourself in danger and throwing the whole of Panem into civil war." I notice how he doesn't add that it would cause the corrupt Capitol to fall.

"Yes, but it was for love," I assure him.

"Let's say I believe you here," Snow says smiling. "But they don't. The majority of Panem would see this as an opportunity. If a boy and girl from District 12 of all places can defy the Capitol, then they can. So I need you to convince them. Convince them that your actions were motivated by love, not rebellion. Show them that you support the Capitol."

"That would be easier if you were more human," Katniss snaps at him. "How can we show that we support you if at the end of this year you're going to create some sick, twisted Hunger Games to prey on people's fear?" I touch Katniss's shoulder lightly, to remind her that Snow holds the power here. "Sorry," she adds, not sounding sorry at all.

"By avoiding outbursts like that for a start," Snow says. "And impressing the Capitolites. As I said: convince them that your actions were of love. Even better, convince me. Now how are you going to do this?" he questions us.

"I was going to propose," I suggest.

Snow steeples his fingers. "Excellent," he says. "I will have your stylist design appropriate clothes for the occasion. Cinna, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Katniss mutters.

"Well thank you for your time," Snow says, getting up to leave. "This conversation has been most interesting. And remember, it's essential that you do as I say. I would hate to have to kill anyone." But he can't kill us. For once, we have the upper hand. Us and our families are safe and sound. Snow exits the room and a few second later we hear a door shutting behind him.

Katniss and I look at each other for a second, making sure that he is gone before releasing our anger. "That piece of filth," I shout. "Threatening others if we don't do as he says!"

"At least he can't get to us or our families," Katniss points out.

"He can get to others in 12 though," I rage. "What about people like Delly or Madge or Melanie?" I ask her. "They could be killed easily if we don't do as he says."

"He was right," Katniss says quietly. "A rebellion would start- but the Capitol are too strong to defeat without help. We would need to plan a rebellion over years, secretly stealing technology and saving up money and buying weapons. If we stir up the Districts then what will happen is afterwards we will have a worse Hunger Games."

"That's what happened seventy five years ago," I admit, though I don't want to admit that Snow was right. "Things were bad and a rebellion was planned hastily and the Districts were defeated and District 13 was wiped out," I summarise the first rebellion. "And we would need help to plan a rebellion properly."

"For now we need to play along though," Katniss says. "Propose on the Victory Tour. Pretend that we love the Capitol for letting us live rather than hating them for putting us in the Games to begin with." I nod slightly and hug Katniss comfortingly. A display of proper love before we have to do the fake over-the-top Capitol displays.

Katniss ends the hug. "I need to warn my family," she says. She rushes back to her house and I am left to warn mum, Rory and Posy about what President Snow was saying.

"Mum! Rory! Posy!" I shout loudly to call them into the living room.

They come into the living room quickly, probably alerted by my voice that something is wrong. They all sit down. "What's wrong Gale?" Posy asks. "Why are you pacing?"

"President Snow was just here," I reply. "He was warning me.. Warning me that a rebellion would start and unless Katniss and I put on exactly the right act for the Capitol then he will kill people!" I vent to them angrily. They all look worried, even Posy who is generally one of the most innocent seven year olds around.

I feel slightly guilty, wondering if I should have told my family. I prefer straight honesty to people hiding things so I don't worry, but I know not everybody is like that. And Posy shouldn't have to worry about things like that at age seven, she should be thinking about having a good time, not about supporting my act.

"What do you need to do?" Rory asks quietly.

I calm down a bit. "I need to make it look like I had no intention of rebellion when I won the Games. Only for love and make people think that I like the Capitol for their mercy," I say sarcastically. "Katniss nailed it right on the head when she said that it would be easier if Snow was more human."

"Katniss snapped at President Snow?" my mum asks. "Is she alright?"

"Katniss is fine," I say tiredly. "He can't kill either of us because it would start a rebellion. President Snow didn't seem to mind all that much, he just brushed it off. I don't really think he sees being called inhuman as an insult."

"So what are you going to do?" mum asks me.

I sigh. "What he said. We can't afford a rebellion now, the Districts would lose. I'm going to propose to Katniss on the victory tour and gush on about how grateful I am to the Capitol citizens for sponsoring us and wanting to keep us alive. That's all I can do and he threatened to kill people if I do anything else."

"Are we in danger Gale?" Posy asks quietly, worry evident in her tone. "Does he want to kill us?"

Internally I laugh and kneel down in front of her. "Of course he wants to kill us," I reply. "But he can't. He can't kill me or any of my loved ones and that includes you." If he dares harm any of my family then I'm going to murder him when I next see him. An eighty or so old man from Capitol against a training eighteen year old victor? I could kill him before any of his bodyguards could stop me even if I would be killed afterwards.

"Really?" Posy asks hopefully. "You're not just lying to make me feel better are you? Who did he threaten to kill?"

"He didn't mention any names," I say. "But it would probably be people like Madge- friends but not close friends," I say honestly. I don't want to tell Posy this sort of thing, but she needs to know and I need her to trust me completely which can't happen if I lie to her. And she can probably tell when I lie to her anyway- she's not as stupid as the Capitolites.

"Do you think that you should warn the people that are in danger?" Rory asks me. "I know that they aren't supposed to know about this, but their lives are at stake here. If you make a single mistake.." Rory trails off, allowing the President Snow will kill or torture them to be unsaid.

"No," I say. "Their lives will be more in danger if I do tell them." I sink down into a chair hopelessly. Perhaps it would have been better if I had just died in the Games, then so many others wouldn't be in danger. No, I think firmly. I can't start thinking about dying. Then the would be no chance for a rebellion and the Hunger Games will go on forever. "I need to see Haymitch," I tell my family.

Haymitch's house is right next to mine and Katniss's. It looks pretty much the same as ours, Victors Village houses have very little that make them unique from the outside. Inside I know differently though. I knock on the door to Haymitch's house and there is a muffled sound inside as Haymitch gets up to open it.

The door opens. "What do you want?" Haymitch asks in way of greeting. I step inside the house, careful to avoid the bottles of white liquor on the floor and other pieces of clutter around. This is just his way of coping though: Katniss and I hunt, Haymitch drinks. I judge Haymitch less harshly now that I can relate to what he's been through.

"Advice," I tell him. "President Snow was just at my house, telling me about the rebellion. He knows it wasn't completely for love." I pause. " He told me that if I don't convince people that my actions were for love on the Victory Tour he will kill people. He didn't mention any names though."

Haymitch laughs humourlessly. "You think he didn't know?" he asks. "He's not stupid Gale. There's a lot at stake here for him, are you surprised that he would threaten a few people's lives to make you act right?" Haymitch sobers up a bit. "Gale, you have to do what he says. We can't afford to start the rebellion until we are completely prepared. Starting a rebellion to early will be disastrous."

"But how long will that be?" I burst out. "Months? Years? How long can we wait until the impression that Katniss and I made fizzles out? And how do we start a rebellion in secret? It would require people to know and be angry at the Capitol, it would require me telling people about this."

"Sooner that you think," Haymitch says. "People thought of rebellion before you and Katniss, we just need to prepare them. OK? Don't be impatient. Don't die. And just play his Games until we are ready to attack. You'll get your revenge on him and I will too. I've been waiting a long time for it."

"What happened?" I ask. "This sounds more personal than just the Hunger Games." Has Haymitch been through something similar to us? Maybe President Snow killed his family. But why would he want to unless Haymitch did something to rebel against the Capitol as well? I need to find out more about Haymitch so I know how trustworthy he is.

"I'll tell later," Haymitch says. "Go- tell Katniss to do what I told you." Damn. So close to having Haymitch give me some answers. Maybe Haymitch will tell me later, but I doubt it. I sigh and exit the house, going back to my own. I'm too tired to endure another conversation about the possibilities of the rebellion.


	3. New Peacekeeper

3: New Peacekeeper

Katniss POV

I decide not to tell Prim and mum about what happened at Gale's house. Prim is innocent and happy and me telling her won't help her in any way. And mum.. last time mum had a big shock like that she fell into depression and I'm not willing to risk her doing that again. I wonder if Gale told his family. Gale always preferred brute honesty but I think Prim would prefer to be happy.

Prim comes rushing into the room, plaits bobbing and the back of her shirt untucked, just like on Reaping Day. My little duck still. I can't take away that innocence and happiness. "Katniss!" she says excitedly. "I want to tell you something!" I smile at her and follow Prim up to her room.

Prim's room is done in shades of yellow giving it a bright and happy atmosphere that suits Prim perfectly. "What is it little duck?" I ask affectionately tucking her shirt in at the back.

"I asked Peeta out today!" she says. "And he said yes." I frown slightly. Isn't Prim a little young for boyfriends? I never thought about having a boyfriend when I was Prim's age. Then again at that time we were starving and I was mourning dad and just starting to hunt. I didn't have time for anything like that.

"Peeta Mellark?" I ask. "I didn't know you liked him."

"Well you were away a lot during the Games and hunting afterwards," Prim says. "You didn't see much. I think Peeta knew though because he didn't seem surprised when I asked him out. He was really happy, I wonder if he liked me before.." Prim says trailing off as she thinks about it.

Peeta is quite a nice boy and he does seem good for Prim, but I can feel protective sisterly feelings coming up in me. If Peeta breaks Prim's heart then I don't know what I'll do to him. "Maybe," I say. "He was always bringing you cakes and biscuits from his bakery and that birthday cake he made you was beautiful. But are you sure you're ready for a boyfriend?

"I know!" Prim says. "He's so thoughtful and nice. And yes, I'm ready for a boyfriend. I'm thirteen now, half the girls in my class have boyfriends. Don't worry, we won't do anything inappropriate. I'm not stupid. Holding hands and kissing will be as far as it will go until I'm a decent age. And I'm sure Peeta won't break my heart."

"OK," I say. "If you like him then I'm not going to stop you. Make sure you stay sensible though." I guess it's a bit hypocritical of me to say that Prim isn't ready for a boyfriend yet when I am with Gale, have won the Hunger Games and need to put on an act so I don't stir up rebellion. And when I was her age then I was in the woods, hunting and trading in the Hob.

"Of course," she says. I nod, satisfied and leave Prim's room.

I wonder whether it would be a better decision to go to the woods now with Gale and hunt like I often do, get out all of the stress that built up in the conversation with Snow and realising that Prim has a boyfriend or whether I should go and talk to Peeta. I decide to go hunting with Gale. I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone else now.

I pull on my dad's old hunting jacket to keep me warm and head across the street to Gale's house. I'm not keen on Victor's Village. It's too perfect, too uniform. It is more comfortable and nicer than at my old house, but the old house has a much more homey feel than this one.

Gale opens the door and when he sees me dressed up for hunting with my bow and arrows on my back he immediately grabs a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Hunting?" he asks me. I nod and we head out to the woods together, passing all of the places we used to go and going through the Seam. It makes me feel good now that there are hardly any starving children that we can see here. There may be underfed people, but not enough to kill.

I duck under the never on electric fence and Gale comes after me. There is not often a lot of game near to the fence because of all the noise that District 12 makes, but if you go about two hundred metres in then hunting becomes a lot easier. I learnt this the hard way of 'if I don't find something to eat I and my family will starve'.

The noises of the forest around me are soothing: leaves rustling, birds singing, just those sounds that the woods have. The little things that make these woods so different in feel to the woods in the arena. That natural feeling. Gale has his bow out and let's an arrow fly into the darkness. I hear a slight thud as something falls to the floor. Probably a bird.

Gale finds his catch and we have fun just shooting instinctively at anything we hear and having a high success rate. I wonder if everybody has a gift like mine, or like Gale with snares. Or maybe it's just years of training. If I had picked up a set of knives instead of a bow that first day I went into the forest, would I be like Clove now?

After about an hour of hunting, Gale and I decide that it's time to go back to the Seam to give away the food. We each pick something to keep for our own families (because game tastes much better than the shop meats) and put the rest in a game bag. When we get nearer to the fence we hear an odd noise though.

It takes a few minutes for my brain to register what it is, but then I realise. The electricity is running through the fence. We won't be able to get back unless it is turned off or we somehow manage to get over the fence. There are two choices now. Choice one is that Gale and I can stay in the forest overnight, usually in our District the electricity will only go on rarely and stay for about a day. Choice two is that we can try and get over.

"Gale?" I ask. "What do you think we should do?"

"We can stay here overnight," Gale suggests. "The electricity will probably go off tomorrow. That's what we always do when the fence is on." He is right, we do normally stay overnight in the woods. But something about today is putting me off that idea, a part of me is doubting that the fence will go off tomorrow. Maybe it's just that I'm paranoid about being trapped in from the arena. I need to relax. Spending the night here will be fine.

"OK," I say. "Shall we stay here?"

"It's as good a place as any?" Gale says, sinking down to sit with his back resting on a tree. I sit with him and rest my head on his shoulder, just like I did so many times in the Games. It's a cold night, so I snuggle into Gale's chest for warmth and he wraps his arms around me.

It just feels right, being here with Gale. It's comfortable and relaxing and warm. I can feel Gale's heartbeat and feel the movement of his chest as he breathes and my breathing starts to synchronise with his. Our bodies feel almost like one, moving together as I lean into him and I sigh, looking up at the stars.

"We should do this more often," I murmur to Gale. "Spend time away from it all. Just us, here together. Not doing anything much, just sitting looking at the stars."

"They're beautiful," he agrees. The full moon provides quite a lot of light for us and it is a cloudless night, so we can see most of the stars. "Apparently there is a constellation called Orion. A hunter," he says. "I can't see it though, can you?" I look up at the stars, trying to find something that would look like a hunter. I shake my head.

After about fifteen minutes, I feel myself falling asleep on Gale. When I wake up, Gale is still underneath me. I shake him awake and take a look at the fence. The electricity is still going through it, making a low buzzing sound. I sigh. I should have trusted my instincts last night and figured out a way to get over the fence.

"It's not going to go off," Gale says. "Normally it takes only a few hours. There must a new peacekeeper- one who actually cares about people hunting in the woods." So far, 12 has been lucky with peacekeepers. The head peacekeeper is Darius Cray, and his reaction to seeing people come out of the woods with game is to head over to the Hob to buy it. I've made quite a few sales to him.

"If we climb a tree we could jump over," I suggest. "If we land right it wouldn't really hurt." The fence is around two and a half metres high. It's not impossible to get over. I go over to a tree and pull myself up to the second branch, which should be high enough. I look down at the ground. It seems a lot higher up now that I'm looking down at it.

"Katniss, are you sure?" Gale asks. "Let me jump first. Then I can catch you."

"No, I'm fine," I say frowning. "I'll jump first, I'm up here now." On the count of three, I think. Three. Two. One. I jump, twisting in midair. The fall is fast and I hit the ground hard, landing back-first. I probably have a few bruises, but it's much better than having a twisted ankle or something like that.

"I'm OK," I call up to Gale, who is sitting on the same branch I did. "You can jump- it's safe!" Gale jumps off the branch and lands on his feet, hissing in pain. Luckily he seems uninjured too. I look down the fence. There are no trees on our side close enough so that we can get back into the forest if we would like to, but there probably are places where the wire has been cut or borrowed under. I'll need to look soon.

We head back to Victors Village quickly, hoping that our absence hadn't been noticed and dropping of our catch to the Seam families on our way. We may be Victors and Victors are generally above the law, but the Capitol hates us enough not to make an exception for us. I say goodbye to Gale and walk into my house.

"Katniss!" Prim says, rushing towards me. "You're safe! We were worried last night.. a new peacekeeper came and when he noticed that the fence wasn't on he turned it on. It probably won't be going off again any time in the near future. We didn't think you would be able to get back.."

"Prim," I cut her off. "I'm fine. Tell me about this new peacekeeper, what happened?"

"His name is Romulus Thread," Prim says. "Apparently District 12 is 'a nest of illegal activity' which he is going to stop. He's brought back punishments such as whipping. He's the head peacekeeper- Darius Cray was demoted." Romulus Thread. I wonder if this was a response to us from Snow, it seems suspicious that it happened so soon after the visit.

Our conversation is interrupted by a knock at the door. Prim gets up to open it and returns holding hands with Peeta. Peeta looks stressed, his blonde hair is messy and he looks tired. "Hi Katniss," he says. "Did you hear about the new peacekeeper? Romulus Thread."

I glare at him slightly. "Prim was just telling me about him, why?"

Peeta shrugs. "I thought you would be interested to know, because you know, you hunt."

"New head peacekeeper, much stricter than Darius Cray. Electric fence running all the time, whipping brought back," I summarise. "Anything else I should know?"

"No, Prim summed it up pretty well," Peeta says.

"Good," I nod. "Peeta, can I have a word with you. In private?" Prim gives me an amused glance and leaves the room. She knows what this is about, she knows that I need to get it out of my system. Prim doesn't mind me being overprotective much, especially after I volunteered for her.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Peeta asks innocently.

"You and Prim?" I ask. "Do you really love her?"

Peeta pauses. "Yes.. I think so. Katniss, this is probably a bad time to tell you this, but I love you." I stare at him in shock. "I love Prim as well," he adds hurriedly. "But you're the reason I kept coming around. Do you remember when I gave you the bread?" I nod silently. How could I forget? "I did that because I loved you."

I get angry with him. "So you've been lying to Prim?" I ask. "Is she just a tool for you to get to me?" If he's just messing around with Prim to get to me then I will gut him like a fish. No one is going to hurt Prim and get away with it. "Because if you have been then I will.."

"No," he cuts me off. "I do really love Prim. And I know you're with him now," he refers to Gale. "It's just difficult knowing how I feel about you right now. But don't worry about Prim. I have no intention of breaking her heart, I do truly love her. And I won't pressurise her into doing anything she doesn't want."

"I am with Gale now," I tell him. "And we're never going to break up. So move on from me. If you truly love Prim then fine. I've watched you together and you do seem to care for her a lot. I'm off limits, remember that." I hesitate for a second. "Does Gale know about this? Is that why he hates you?"

"Yes," Peeta says grimacing. "Gale knows. I told him after the Reaping and gave him his token and got him to promise to bring you back safely.. Not that he needed much persuading. I'm not really surprised that he dislikes me, I'm not overly keen on him either. He also hates me because I'm a merchant kid, because I have such an easy life," he says sarcastically.

I'm not really in the mood to hear all of Peeta's- probably minor- problems, so I call Prim back into the room. She smiles at me, because Peeta is still alive she knows that I am satisfied with his intentions towards her. Prim finding my protectiveness funny is very useful- if she found it irritating she would have killed me by now.

xXx-X-xXx

I think this is the longest chapter I've written.. Yes, my chapters are short. If you liked/disliked/just have something to say about the story, please leave some feedback in a review.

-MoonOfPluto


	4. Whipping

4: Whipping

Katniss POV

I head over to the merchant section of the District where the bakery and butcher stores are. I can't hunt anymore, so I need to use my victory money to buy food for myself. I pass by the centre square where I see a large post has been erected. A whipping post. There is dry blood splattered over the floor around it and I gulp at the thought of a man or woman crouching helplessly at the bottom as a peacekeeper rains blows on their backs with a whip.

Hurrying past the post, I get to the bakery quite quickly. This is where I sat crouching in the dirt and Peeta threw me two loaves of bread. Peeta loves me too. The thought feels odd to think about, it feels slightly bad now that I rejected him after he saved my life and that of my family. I decide not to think about it. I am with Gale now.

The store is open and I see Peeta working in the back with his mother yelling at him. I watch in admiration as he hoists a sack of flour over his shoulder with no difficulty. Peeta is strong. Another talent I would have liked in the arena. No, I think. Put the arena out of your mind. Peeta makes eye contact with me and I smile at him. He comes to the store front.

"Hi Katniss," he says. "What can I get you today?"

"Two loaves of bread please," I tell him. Mind drifting back to the day he threw me the loaves, I add on, "thanks by the way. For that day you threw me the bread when I was starving." I pass him the money for the two loaves. It feels good being able to pay for things instead of trading game.

"It's OK," he says, pushing the two loaves over the counter. "I couldn't have let you die. What I did was as much selfish as unselfish. It was worth my mother's temper to save you. Trust me." It irritates me the way that he makes comments like that when he knows that I'm with Gale. Couldn't he have just left it at it's OK?

I push over some more money, the money that would pay for two extra loaves of bread. "The payment is a little late," I say. "But I dislike being in debt to other people. There's the money for those two loaves of bread that you threw me." Peeta looks surprised, but accepts the money. He knows I won't back down on this.

"Thanks," he says. "How's Melanie doing?" he asks. "Unless hunters have found a way through the fence she won't be able to feed her family." I hadn't thought about Melanie. Maybe I should give her some money to buy food for herself and her family if she hasn't already found a way around the fence. Being smart and observant she probably has though.

I leave the store with the bread in hand, walking back across the District to Victors Village. I hear an agonised shriek pierce the air and my heart starts to beat fast. Dropping the bag of bread, I rush to the centre of the District, towards the whipping post. Tied to the bottom of the post is Melanie.

Her back is a bloody mess, stripes criss-crossing over each other and oozing blood. There is a squirrel pinned to the post above her head with a hole through the eye. Many people are gathered around and I recognise a lot of familiar faces from trading in the Hob. I push my way to the front of the crowd desperately.

"Melanie!" I shout. The man I assume to be Romulus Thread smiles cruelly. His teeth are white and straight. He is around forty and has black hair with a few strands of grey. His face is cold and stern. He brings the whip back right behind his head, then thrusts it forward.

Before I know what I am doing, I have moved in front of her. The whip hits my face, a red-hot stripe of agony. I reach my hand out and feel a trickle of blood, which I wipe off. "What do you think you're doing?" I ask, barely controlling my anger at this man- this animal. I stare him in the eye, my hands forming fists at my sides.

"Punishing a crime," he answers impatiently. "Now stand aside, girl." Hatred rises within me. Punishing a crime? Only the crime of hunting in unused land to feed her family. I stand my ground and peek at Melanie behind me. She is whimpering, almost unconscious from the pain and slumped over.

"No," I say. He brandishes the whip, but I'm not going to stand aside. Not even if he hits me again- which I doubt he will. He wouldn't dare, I am a victor. I am probably one of three people in the District who could make a stand like this, the others being Gale and Haymitch. I wish Gale was with me here now for support.

"Katniss!" I hear the familiar shout of Gale and see him push through the crowds to join me. My wish was granted. Haymitch is behind him, stumbling up here. Someone must have brought help for me. I see Peeta wink at me in the crowd, he must have brought them here. I mouth thanks to him and he nods.

Haymitch seems furious. He takes one look at my face and thunders, "she has a camera shoot next week for Victory Tour outfits! Do think that will be camera ready in a week?" I brush off a bit more of the blood that had been dripping down my face. It may scar if left alone, it probably will.

"Well.." Romulus Thread starts out. "She was interrupting the punishment of a criminal.." He is cut off by Gale striding in front of me and slapping him in the face. Gale is beyond regular anger, hate and disgust show on his face for the piece of rubbish that he just hit.

"Don't you dare hurt Katniss!" he snaps at Thread. "Hurt her and I will kill you!" Thread takes a step back from us and looks towards the crowd for reaction. Gale, Haymitch and I are the ones with the power here. We are the only three people in the District who can make a stand like this and succeed. I see that a woman that I know from the Hob, Purnia, has stepped forward.

Purnia opens her mouth. "I believe the correct number of lashes has been given already," she says. "Unless you wish to execute her, in which case protocol dictates a firing squad." I'm not sure if Purnia even knows the protocol for a situation like this, because in the Hob, protocol for someone turning up with a squirrel is to recommend buyers for it.

It seems Romulus Thread doesn't know the protocol for it either. "Fine," he snaps. "Take her. And next time I catch people hunting in the woods it will be execution." Knowing that he is serious will probably put most hunters off hunting now. I'll need to do something to help the other hunters. My mind immediately goes to putting an arrow through Romulus Thread's eye.

Gale and I rush over to Melanie, who seems to have slipped into unconsciousness. Gale lifts Melanie up on his back, piggyback position, so as not to damage her back more. I don't even need to say anything for Gale to know that she needs to be taken back to my house. My mother will know what to do for this- I hope. We run.

I twist open the doorknob in a hurry, shouting my mother's name. Gale puts Melanie down on the table, stomach first. My mother comes down the stairs. "What on Earth..." she asks, before I cut her off.

"This is Melanie. I need you to treat her back. Romulus Thread." My mother's attention is on Melanie and her eyes widen as she looks at the bloody flesh that is Melanie's back. Her eyes wander over the back for a few seconds, then she seems to get incredibly angry. "Twenty one lashes!" she rages. "He could have killed her- he would have if you hadn't stopped him. Anything up of twenty five lashes would have almost definitely kill her."

I silently thank any god there is that I got to her in time. Just a few minutes later and Melanie would be dead. "Can you treat her?" I ask. "She won't bleed to death will she?"

My mother shakes her head. "No- I can treat her. Prim, get some poppy seeds and some disinfectant bandages. Hurry!" Melanie groans slightly and stirs. "It'll be alright," my mother whispers to her. "You'll be OK, just stay very still." Prim returns with the seeds and bandages.

Mum has Melanie swallow the seeds and then she starts meticulously cleaning out all of the wounds and wrapping bandages all around Melanie's torso. I am torn between whether to stay and watch or to go upstairs to my room so I don't have to see her suffering here.

I decide to stay. I want to be here if anything happens to Melanie. I'm not so afraid of blood and wounds as I used to be before the Games. I lack the compassion to be a nurse, but inflicting so many wounds has desensitised me to them. I became stronger during the Games: fitter, less afraid, more powerful. More myself.

I hear the phone ring in the background. This is the first call that we have had: almost nobody in District 12 has a phone. It came with the Victors Village house. I press the button to answer it and lift the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I ask. "Who is this?"

Hearing the distinctive, dry voice makes my blood run cold. "President Snow," the voice replies. "Miss Everdeen. My sources in your District have told me of an act of rebellion today." He sounds cold and detached, but I know that he is both worried and angry. My actions today have scared him- I know it.

"Romulus Thread?" I ask. Who else could his spy be? Romulus Thread came straight after our conversation and is one of the more loyal lapdogs of the Capitol. I leave the room. I don't want mother and Prim to hear this conversation and start worrying for their safety.

"Yes," he says. "Miss Everdeen, have you forgotten our conversation already?" he asks me. "Rebellion in the Districts is bad for both of us, but for you especially." Yeah right. "Think about how you reflected to that girl being whipped today," he says. "What was her name- Melanie?" he asks me.

"Melanie," I say. "Did you get her nearly killed just to scare me?" I ask, anger rising at this monster who would sacrifice thirteen year old children to get what he wants.

"No," Snow says. In my minds eye, I see him smiling as he says this. A lucky coincidence, I am sure he will find it. "That was her doing- she was breaking the law, remember? Hunting on Capitol land," he says, mocking me. "A crime that I have let people get away with for too long."

He knows that I hunt. I guess it was obvious. Bows and snares in the Games- I'm a District 12 girl, not a career. The only place that I would have learned those skills would be by illegally hunting in the woods. "Such a crime?" I spit at him. "So worthy of being nearly killed for."

"Indeed," Snow says, ignoring the sarcasm. "In any case, of this is how you react to one girl- a girl who you probably barely know- getting harmed, how do you think you will react to many people close to you being killed? This is what rebellion will bring to Panem. Death and the destruction of everyone you love."

Not if we plan the rebellion properly. "I haven't forgotten our conversation," I tell him wearily. I need to defend my loved ones though. I can't let him think that he has won and he can do this again and again to terrify me. "But you saw how I reacted to someone I loved being hurt. Rebellion. If I am not to start a rebellion then I need the safety of my friends and family safe and for Romulus Thread to leave Twelve."

"Done," Snow says. I know that mine and my family's safety and Romulus Thread is not too big a sacrifice for him to make. That he would grant me it to stop being rebellious. Doesn't mean that I will though. It just means that I will need to be more discreet about it. I smile to myself. Second victory against Snow, first being my survival.

"Thank you. Goodbye." I don't wait for him to say a thing before hanging up.

xXx-X-xXx

So what did you think of the chapter? Katniss is being much more manipulative now than in the books and much more involved with what's going on. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and please follow, favourite or review. Thank you to those who have already done so.

-MoonOfPluto


	5. The Victory Tour

5: The Victory Tour

Gale POV

Today is the camera shoot for our Victory Tour outfits. The outfit that I will propose to Katniss in. Cinna and Portia arrived half an hour ago and are having tea with my family in our living room. I was told to go and have another bath or shower and make myself look the best I can. That's done now though and Portia will be coming up with my outfit soon. She's done fairly when in not making me look like I'm dressed up for Halloween so far, I can only hope she keeps it up.

I hear a knock and the door and tell her to come in. Portia looks my body up and down, examining me to see if I look clean enough and pretty enough, which makes me a bit uncomfortable. "We've matched your outfit with Katniss's," she tells me. "Most of the photos will be taken with you together. The pictures will be broadcast soon after we take them, but you probably won't get to District 11 until about three today."

Portia opens the bag, revealing my costumes for the next few days. There are three and they seem almost identical. There is also a set of casual black clothes for the train journey. First Portia gives me a suit the exact colour of the District 12 coal and a shirt in a slightly lighter grey colour. A black leather belt and some new shoes.

The material of the suit and shirt is odd, it seems to have threads of another fabric running through it, crossing and overlapping. The first few suits I have didn't have this feature. Noticing my interest in it, Portia smiles and takes an object out of her pocket. It seems like an oversized lighter.

"Another fire effect?" I ask her.

"Basically, but this time we aren't setting your whole outfit on fire. The fire will keep to certain threads that are running through the suit. I noticed you examining them." So I'll look like a piece of coal with fiery wires running through it. I can imagine it, it sounds like one of the better outfits.

She lights what I originally thought was a loose thread at the bottom. Slowly, the fake fire spreads throughout my shirt like the wires are veins. I look in a mirror at myself. Overall, my appearance is very District 12- and oddly in a good way. It doesn't look like normal smart clothes, but it also doesn't make me look ridiculous.

Portia brushes my hair to the side and teases out any tangles. She then highlights the odd thread dark grey or fiery orange to match with my outfit. Also, she puts a bit off make up on me just under my eyes to hide the dark circles resulting from nightmares about the Games nearly every night.

Then I am led out of the house to where there a crew of camera men stand with Katniss. Katniss is wearing a lighter version of my outfit. Her dress is the same colour as my shirt, paler than my suit. It also has the strands of fire through it and ginger highlights in her hair. There is something graceful about the dress, like a bird. A phoenix perhaps, rising from ashes and coal in District 12 to become a symbol of hope for the Districts. These are the clothes that I will propose in.

I smile at her and stand next to her. "You look amazing," I whisper to her. "Better than any other tribute or Victor that I've seen before." Katniss returns my smile and takes my hand in hers. I notice that she has mockingjays tattooed along her inner arms in light grey and the mockingjay pin in gold on the back of each hand.

We face the cameras, hand in hand. This seems like the pose that they wanted because there is the flash and click of cameras as we smile. We are shown the photo of ourselves. We look quite dark in the outfits. More smiling evilly than smiling happily I think. I wonder if this was the intended effect.

There are a few more photos taken and some of Katniss and I alone. Then we are taken back inside and dressed in different outfits to have pictures taken again. The next outfit is lighter and makes me look happy, not plotting. Katniss is wearing a similar dress to the one she wore at the interviews before the games.

The final outfit is a plain black suit for me and a dark dress for Katniss. Though they both have small fiery accents, these clothes look more like mourning clothes than anything. The cameras click again and we smile and pose together, then alone. I am a bit tired of all of the photos, do the Capitol people really care that much about this? I guess they do.

"The first outfits will be worn in Districts 1, 2, 4 and possibly 11. The second ones will be worn for Districts 3, 6, 7, 9 and 10. The ones that you are wearing now will be worn in 5, 8 and maybe 11," Cinna says. I see the pattern. The clothes that we are wearing now will be worn for the Districts whose tributes we were kind to in some way. Rue, the District 8 girl and Aravis. A lump forms in my throat at the thought of Aravis.

I remember the time when she saved my life as we were being chased by careers, helping her get the anti-venom she needed at the feast, tossing her that first loaf of bread. I try to put these memories out of my mind. I will be meeting Aravis's family sometime tomorrow.

The second outfits will be for the Districts that we had no real interaction with and the first outfits will be showing off how tough we look to the career Districts and maybe to Thresh's District. The tributes that we killed without remorse. The Victory party where I will propose always takes place in District 1 because they are the luxury District and they make the party items.

After the camera shoots are done, I change into the plain black clothes and my family and I get on the train. Katniss comes on with me. Rory and Prim go off together down the train to get some snacks and Posy goes with them, so I am left with Katniss, my mum and Katniss's mother.

I glance at Katniss and raise my eyebrows towards her mother, silently asking if she told her mother about President Snow's visit. She shakes her head slightly and looks down. No, she hasn't. Why not, I gesture to her. Katniss gazes down the corridor to where Prim and Rory and Posy went. She didn't want Prim to worry.

She looks towards my mother and I nod slightly. Katniss doesn't seem surprised at this, but I think that she does feel for Rory and Posy having to put up with the knowledge because she looks down the corridor again. I shrug. It's not like they wouldn't find out at some point anyway and they have a right to know.

"We should practice the proposal," Katniss says awkwardly. "I bet the Capitolites are expecting it to be flawless and natural." I sigh slightly at this idea. It makes me slightly angry the way that our proposal has to be so rehearsed and forced. Especially as we are rehearsing it for people that we both hate.

"Do I need to go down on one knee or something?" I ask her. Because I always expected that I would propose to her casually, like most couples in the Seam did, I'm a bit rusty on what makes a 'proper' proposal. Katniss looks a bit unsure as well. Maybe it would have been useful to have the stylists in here.

Surprisingly, Katniss's mum opens her mouth. "You do," she tells us. "You need to take her hands in yours or if you have a ring, offer it to her. According to Cinna, there is a place down the train that has a selection of rings for you to choose from, but you can propose without a ring if you want to."

I wonder why she knows so much about this. Perhaps Cinna told her. I shrug it off and get down on one knee and hold Katniss's hands in my own. "Like this?" I ask.

Katniss's mother nods. "Now you need to ask her to marry you. It would look good if you put some emotions into it, don't just say will you marry me."

"Katniss Everdeen. I have loved you since the moment I first heard your voice. Will you do me the honour of agreeing to become my wife and spend your life with me?" I say, a questioning look on my face as I look to Mrs Everdeen for approval. She nods slightly and I smile.

"Have you really loved me since you first heard my voice?" Katniss asks.

"No," I reply. "If you remember, I was angry at you for trying to take my catch for yourself. Though it turned out that you just wanted to learn to set snares. Anyway, it just sounded like the type of false line that the Capitolites would like. Love doesn't just happen like that, that's infatuation. Not love."

"It was a good line," Katniss's mum says. "In fact, your whole proposal was pretty good. It sounded a bit forced, but I'm sure you can put more emotion in later. You might want to choose a ring or if you want a ring first." That makes sense, it seems like the proposal will be different without a ring. Also, I would like to give Katniss something for the proposal.

"The ring section is that way," Katniss's mum says. She points down the train in the opposite direction the our siblings went. Katniss and I walk down the train holding hands. The feel of Katniss's hand in mine calms me. It reminds me that Katniss actually loves me, that this whole thing isn't just an act for the Capitol.

I smile slightly at Katniss. No matter how unlucky we have been, we were still lucky enough and smart enough to come out of the Hunger Games together, unlike so many others. Others whose families I am going to meet soon, I think anxiously. I don't want to meet their families. It makes even the careers seem like real people, not just cannons.

Katniss stops walking and I look down. Cinna and Portia are sat behind a table of rings. There are about fifty different rings there and I immediately wonder how much this cost and where the rings are going once we have picked. Hopefully the Capitol didn't buy all of these rings just for us.

My eyes scan the rings, picking out a few that I don't want immediately. These are the big, gold rings with huge gems in them that are too material. Most of the rings are gold, but I see some beautiful white-gold rings that would suit Katniss better. Katniss is scanning the rings as well.

"That one," she says, pointing. I look down to see the ring that she is pointing too. It is one of the white gold ones that I liked. It is quite a thin metal circle with two small curving bits coming of the main ring at the top. Embedded in the curling bits are two little pieces of amber.

I nod slightly, the ring is probably the same one that I would have chosen for her. Cinna picks the ring up and examines it. "24 karat white gold, two amber stones. It suits you very well and goes with the dress," Cinna says. Cinna pulls a box out of a drawer and puts the ring in and hands it to me. "Good luck," he says. "The train is approaching 11 by the way, you may want to change. Gale, outfit 1. Katniss, outfit 3."

We nod and I go to get changed into the outfit. Cinna left the fake fire lighter in the bag with my clothes so that I can light the loose thread that sends streams of fire blazing across my clothes. Satisfied, I exit the changing room and look out of the window. Apart from the Games, I've never been outside of District 12 before.

District 11 is big, much bigger than 12. I guess it has to be as it requires space to grow all of Panem's food. It is much prettier than District 12 too. District 12 is quite polluted and just has a grey atmosphere, whereas 11 seems quite quaint and sunny. There are farms and orchards all over the place and houses are clustered around in small villages.

I bet nobody ever gets killed in a fruit picking accident, I think bitterly. Why did I have to be born in 12, where people have the most dangerous and unpleasant jobs that also happen to be the lowest paying and ones with the least safety precautions? And why did it have to be me and Katniss of all people in the District who had to have our fathers killed in a mine accident? I put the thoughts out of my head as they are causing anger that I don't want the people to see.

The train grinds to a halt and Katniss and I get out. A podium has been set up for us and I struggle to remember the victory speeches that Katniss and I prepared a few days earlier. Luckily, Katniss has remembered them better and starts off with the speech about how happy we were to win the Games and how we were so grateful that the Capitol was so kind and merciful to us. I find myself nodding along with her. I get the feeling that if I open my mouth now then I'll come up with a hate-speech towards the Capitol.

The hatred intensifies as I look to the side of the crowd. I see the Victors families. Even Thresh, who tried to slit my throat and throw me off the cornucopia, I feel sorry for now. But Rue's family really makes my heart miss a beat. Rue has an older brother who seems part sad and part angry, and her parents have clearly been recently crying.

Katniss finishes her speech. The people of District 11 give a half-hearted round of applause. They really hate us, after what we did to their tributes. I think that the only reason Rue's older brother is holding back from running up here and murdering us where we stand is because he would only get killed trying.

As we leave the stage, Rue's older brother approaches us and glares. "I hate you," he says to Katniss. "I hate you!" he screams at her. Normally I would slap him for talking to Katniss like that, but I know that he has a reasonable excuse to hate her. Judging by Cato's reaction when he got back to the career camp after killing Rue, her death was not pretty. Also, if Katniss wanted to hit him she would have done it by now. Katniss isn't really bound by politeness and if something angers her she will generally say it.

Instead she only looks sorry. "You could have at least given her a decent death," he says. "I hoped so much when you were talking to her that you were going to let her go. But then you participated in her torture. You don't deserve to be Victor." The boy pauses. "Actually, you do. A sick Victor of sick games."

He storms off back to his parents and I put my arm around Katniss's shoulder. "It's OK," I murmur to her. "You had no choice. It was kill or be killed."

"I don't think I'll be able to keep this up for much longer," Katniss says as we get on the train. "This faking love for the Capitol and talking to the families of those that we killed. I don't think I'll be able to keep my anger in anymore." I clasp her hand in mine. I know that this has a calming effect on both of us.

The journey to the other Districts is spent in silence. There is nothing much to say after the argument in District 11 that will make Katniss feel better. The speeches in Districts Nine and Ten go by in a blur. There is nothing personal about the deaths of there tributes, so nothing happens. I am just dreading District 8.

Seeing the girl's family that I killed. My first kill outside the bloodbath. I can't really be held accountable for the kills in the midst of the bloodbath, but this kill was cold-blooded. The careers sent me back. I could have just left her. But then they would have realised that there was no cannon. I had no choice, I tell myself.

District 8 is a fairly small District. I give the horrible 'we're so grateful to the Capitol' speech this time and gaze off towards the Victor's families. I see the girl that I killed's little brother. Weft, I think his name was. Yes, definitely, Weft. Her dying words were about him, I remember it clearly.

"And I want to say sorry," I add to the end of the speech. "Sorry the families of those tributes. Sorry to there friends. Sorry to everyone who loved them. I didn't want their lives to end this way," I tell the crowds. The only part of my speech that was actually heartfelt and it was thinly veiled anti-Capitol propaganda. Great.

My eyes pick out a man from the audience. He is raising his hand. He kisses his fingers and holds up his hand slowly, proudly in the District 12 salute. The effect is like ripples. Others around him mimic it until the entire audience of District 8 are saluting us. They are united with us. An act of rebellion.

Peacekeepers stream up onto the stage. One of them drags the first man and some others march Katniss and I back to the train. I hear a single gunshot. I know what has happened. That man is dead. I don't dare look back as Katniss and I are forced up into the train. As the train leaves, I catch a glimpse of what happened.

The man's body is sprawled across the floor and blood is pooled around him. "I'm so sorry," I whisper out of the window. Then I kiss my fingers and salute him, like he did for me. President Snow will pay.

xXx-X-xXx

So what do you think of chapter 5? It's the longest chapter in this story yet. If you have any feedback, please leave a review and tell me. Thanks to the wonderful readers who already have. See you next chapter..

-MoonOfPluto


	6. Victory Party

6: Victory Party

Gale POV

The train continues towards District 5. Today has been mainly boring so far, which is good. No men being shot, no having to worry about stirring up a rebellion. I'm not sure whether or not I want to meet Aravis's family or not. On one hand, we gave her a good death so there should be no reason for them to hate us. On the other hand, it'll bring back the grief of her dying.

I remember Aravis describing her District before. District 5 is also one of the bigger Districts, not as big as 11, but still quite large. Five borders the coast and Aravis was right- it does look like a good place to grow up. Of all the Districts that I've seen, District 12 seems like the worst to live in.

The train comes to a stop and I take a look at Katniss. We are dressed in the mourning outfits, but even so she looks beautiful. "Can we not make the same speech this time?" she asks me. "It seems disrespectful to Aravis's memory." She is right. After the Capitol sent a mutt to kill Aravis because she wasn't as popular as us, describing how much we love the Capitol is likely to sound very fake and is disrespectful to Aravis.

The train doors open and we walk onto the stage that District 5 prepared for us. The crowd here seems especially sad, Aravis was probably very well liked in the Games. I look to the side of the crowd, to the tributes family section. I see a woman who looks almost exactly like Aravis and a man with dark hair and piercing green eyes. My heart clenches as I see Aravis's younger sister. Tessa.

Tessa looks around twelve years old. She has the same striking, red hair as Aravis did. She sees me looking and smiles sadly, trying to put on a brave face. I'm sorry, I mouth to her. Katniss starts off a speech that I think that she just made up on the spot. That's a good thing, speeches like this from Katniss are usually stirring and heartfelt. My mind flashes back to the interview before the Games when she talked about Prim.

Katniss describes what Aravis did for us in the Games and what we did for her, finally concluding that we had a bond that went beyond the regular alliances in the Games and that we didn't want Aravis to die. I guess that that could be seen as rebellion, but to be honest it would take an idiot not to have seen that. I doubt that the people from Five will be stupid enough to start a riot after seeing what happened in Eight yesterday on TV. If the Capitol showed it, that is. But I think that they might have because it showed the Capitol killing the rebels.

I end up nodding at the end. "I'm sorry," I say to Aravis's family, who have tears in their eyes. The speech is over now, and Katniss and I exit the stage to where our families are waiting for us. I looks around back to Aravis's family and hesitate. I want to talk to them, just to them before leaving.

"I'm going to talk to Aravis's family now," I state. "Do you want to come with me?" I ask. My mother shakes her head. She has been very on-edge since yesterday in District 8 and wants to keep strictly to the Capitol schedule of coming, giving a speech, then leaving. Rory nods, but Posy wants to stay with mum.

I steer Rory around the edge of the crowds to where the tributes families are. I don't think I ever saw the boy District 5 tribute in the Games, he was one of those average tributes that either gets killed off in the Bloodbath or in the first few days by the career pack. I think that one was a Bloodbath.

"Hi," I say to them awkwardly. They give me a small nod and Tessa looks at me with tears held back in her eyes. I do feel guilty about Aravis's death, even if I didn't actually kill her and it was essential to my survival. I imagine Posy would be a bit like this if I had died in the Games.

"You're Gale," Tessa says, wiping away some water from her eye. "You were in an alliance with Aravis," she states. I nod, wondering where this is going. Is she angry at me for being indirectly responsible for her sister's death? "You helped her- you gave her food on the third day of the Games and you helped protect her at the feast."

I think back to the Games. Tessa is right, it was on the third day that I gave Aravis food and I shot Cato when he tried to run out at her to kill her. Tessa has a good memory, though it's probably normal if you were watching a loved one fight for their life. "I did- Aravis helped me, so I helped her."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I mentally kick myself. Me saying that made it sound like the alliance was just one of mutual benefit, that I didn't help her because I cared but because I wanted to get something back. Luckily, Tessa doesn't seem angry or react to my statement much.

"You gave her the loaf of bread before she helped you," Tessa says. "And you let her leave without her promising an alliance or anything. You let her take the bread because you didn't want her to starve to death." She reminds me of Aravis a lot, she's not overly emotional and is straight to the point and intelligent. She can analyse situations, just like Aravis used to in the Games.

"True," I say, grateful for the chance to explain what I said. "I couldn't let her starve to death, and Aravis was very clever. She saved my life when we were running from Cato and Clove- she paid me back for the bread." Well that was a bit better than before, still makes it sound like I just helped her so that she would help me. Which sort of was the arrangement at the beginning.

"Look, I'm not mad at you for winning, OK?" Tessa asks. "Aravis was trying to do the same and would have killed you if you had the chance, every tribute was trying to win. You did your best to help Aravis, therefore I like you. You were just trying to get back to your own brother and sister."

I nod, satisfied. Her saying that she doesn't resent me for winning was one of the main reasons for me coming. "Thanks for being decent about it," I say. "I have to go now, the train leaves soon. But hopefully we'll see you again some time?" I ask. I'm not sure how that will work before a rebellion starts, but I do want to see Tessa again, even if she does remind me a lot of Aravis.

"That sounds good," Tessa responds. "If you ever come back to District 5, I guess." I nod and turn around to go back to the train, dragging Rory with me as he waves to Tessa. Katniss is waiting for me in the compartment with her mum and Prim and my mum and Posy.

Districts Four, Three and Two all go quite smoothly. We do the rehearsed speech, sound a bit sorry in Three, neutral-ish in Four and gloating in Two. Seeing the families of Cato and Clove do nothing about my hatred of them. They were both only children, it seems common in Two and their parents looked more disappointed than anything.

I guess it takes a certain type of person to volunteer for the Games like they did, and it's not generally the sort of person with a loving family that will cry over their death. Most of Districts One and Two are probably quite normal, minus the Capitol lapdogs thing, but they have enough people that are insane to make them seem awful. District Four, I know is fairly normal. Judging by the Victors they have: an old lady named Mags, Finnick Odair and his girlfriend, mad Annie Cresta.

On the way to District One for the victory party, Katniss and I practise the proposal again and again. It's quite difficult to get it to look perfect and display exactly the emotions that the Capitol want, but after about an hour of practice, Cinna and Portia pronounce it passable.

I can feel the train slowing down, and soon it comes to a stop in District One. District One is probably the most unusual District that I've seen so far. Many people are dressed in a Capitol fashion with dyed hair and bright, impractical clothes. Those who aren't mainly look like Glimmer and Marvel did. Blonde, muscular and wearing subtle make-up to make themselves look even more beautiful. I don't think that I can see one ugly person in the whole crowd.

Katniss and I walk out onto the stage. We are dressed up in the first outfits we tried on, dark with fiery veins running through. Out of the corner of my eye, I glance at Katniss. She looks brilliant in her dress, much better than any of the District One girls. Less is more I guess, judging by the clear effort that went into most people here's outfits.

"Hello, people of District One!" I call into a microphone. My voice booms out over the District. Whispers snake through the crowd about us and I narrow my eyes. Keeping my temper through this will probably be harder than I originally thought. "I'm very glad to be here, and I know that you all want to party." I pause and inhale slowly, reining in my anger at what I just said. "But I have something to say before we can."

I turn to Katniss, and go down on one knee, just as we practiced. My hand goes to my pocket to pull out the box with the ring in it. "Katniss Everdeen," I say. "I have loved you since the first time I heard your voice. Would you let me have the honour of becoming your husband?"

Katniss does the small gasp that we practiced on the train and takes the ring. She slips it onto her finger. "Gale, thank you," she says. "Of course I will!" I smile slightly. The gasp might have been fake, but the emotions in that sentence were not. Katniss really does love me and I will be able to become her husband. I give a completely real smile as Katniss pulls me up and kisses me.

Her lips are so soft. My heart begins to puns in my chest as her tongue prods mine. I feel my fingers brush through her hair, wondering how it is so silky and smooth. I lean into the kiss, forgetting for a moment the huge audience that we have. It feels exciting to kiss Katniss like this, it just feels right.

We pull apart slowly. "I love you," I whisper in her ear. "Truly." She gives a slight nod and smiles. The kiss seemed to steal away any negative emotions that I had, but now that it is over the lurking anger comes back. My eyes scan the audience. Many of the people are making an irritating aww sound with their hands on their hearts. As if they would know what true love was if it slapped them in the face.

A tall man with long, dark blonde hair comes over to us. "Congratulations from District One and the Capitol," he says. This must be the mayor of One. "And now, I think it is time for us to party," he says, gesturing with both arms to all of the food and decorations around us. I nod stiffly.

Music starts to play and Katniss and I head over to one of the food tables, to get away from the crowds. It doesn't work of course, there are fans and random people with cameras following us there. The food here is at least as extravagant as the meals we received in the Capitol, if not more so.

It is because it's an occasion, but I doubt there are many people begging on the streets in District One. I feel Katniss's hand clenched in mine and I know that she feels the same way as me. It's obvious that we're not going to get any peace tonight, so I resign myself to an evening of photos and signing autographs.

It really is surprising that the reaction is like this, after all, we killed the District 1 tributes. Marvel at least, Rue killed Glimmer. But I guess that there are a lot of Capitol citizens here as well, probably providing the funding for the party. I think that our main fans are from the Capitol, judging by the people approaching us.

Katniss and I pose a few times for the cameras and sign more autographs than I care to count. I can't wait to get back to District 12 and home, but for the rest of this evening I am stuck in District One, partying with a group of people that I would be happy never to see again. Unfortunately, with our popularity there probably will be demands for more events like this. I sigh.

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So what do you think of the rather-late chapter? I have no real excuse for it taking this long, just forgot to write it I guess. Hope you enjoyed and please review, follow or favourite. Thanks.

-MoonOfPluto


	7. 7: The Twist

7: The Twist

Katniss POV

Being back in District 12 after the victory party feels good. Idly, I fiddle with the ring around my finger. I'm going to get married to Gale. The proposal itself didn't feel good, it felt horribly fake, but that moment that we spent together after it was almost perfect. I'm not sure what the wedding will be like. Part of me thinks that it will be happy, after all, marrying your true love is supposed to be every girl's dream. My dreams are more along the lines of survival and winning in a rebellion, but the fact remains that a wedding should feel good. Another part knows that it will be overly extravagant and fake and that I will resent the fact that our marriage will probably be in front of half the Capitol.

I have bigger problems to think about right now though. If I am to believe one of the game makers who visited District 1, the twist for the Quarter Quell will be announced soon, maybe even today. This will be my first year of mentoring and I doubt that Haymitch will be much help. He might have brought me and Gale back alive, but we came up with most of the ploys to get sponsor money ourselves. Also, I doubt that he pays that much attention to his tributes normally. After all, he has been mentoring for probably around twenty years now and we are the only tributes that he has brought back alive.

Perhaps some of the mentors from other Districts may be able to help me. I should be able to establish decent relationships with the District 5 victors and maybe the District 4 victors. Thinking about it, I should have looked into the other victors more. I know nearly nothing about any victor other than their names and if I was alive, the games that they won. I don't even know how Haymitch won his games, or even which games he won. I may have been caught up in other matters, but it was still irresponsible of me to ignore the fact that I will be mentoring in a few months time. In Games that will almost certainly be worse than usual.

I wonder what the twist might be. In the first Quarter Quell they had Districts vote in their tributes. It must have been a horrible feeling, knowing that your District chose you to die. Unless you were a career of course- they would probably be proud of the fact that they were picked to go to the Games. The second Quarter Quell, I know had double the amount of tributes reaped. This year, maybe they'll have something about the age of the tributes chosen, or maybe the tributes will be brother and sister or something sick like that. There are an endless number of possibilities for the Capitol to choose from. It seems a bit pointless to try and figure it out now- I will find it out in a few days time.

My thoughts drift over to Melanie. She is still recovering from her whipping a few weeks ago, but she is doing well. According to my mother, who goes over to see her everyday, she will definitely live and there shouldn't be any long-term effects of the whipping. It will scar, of course, but Melanie said that she wouldn't mind having a few scars last time I went to see her. Unfortunately, the electric fence is still running and whippings still go on. Not as often as they did before I intervened and not as many lashes, but they still happen. This hasn't affected much. Hunters still find ways to get under and over the fence, and we stick by each other, so the news spread quickly. Romulus Thread's attempts to turn this District into a poorer version of District 2 aren't going to succeed any time soon.

All in all, not much has actually changed since Romulus Thread came. People have to be more careful when committing crimes, but people still do hunt in the forests or rant about the Capitol or buy illegally hunted game. Whatever is happening in other Districts or in the Capitol, I am glad that District 12 is staying fairly constant. There are times in the woods with Gale, or at home with Prim and Peeta when I can forget that I was ever in the Hunger Games, forget the rebellion and just enjoy life with my family and friends. When the Quarter Quell happens, all of that will be thrown out of the window and I will be forced to witness the new arena, new tributes and likely more deaths.

Thinking about the rebellion brings me back to District 8. What Gale said about how he didn't want anybody to die. Then that feeling of helplessness as we were rushed back into the train and hearing that gunshot. Seeing the man collapse on the stage with blood pooling around his head, and the District 8 rebels being attacked by the peacekeepers. The panic and determination of the people being squashed by the Capitol. I shudder at the memory. I wonder what is happening in District 8 now. Hardly any news is shown about other Districts, so I guess I have no way to find out. Maybe the rebellion is still going on, and nobody from any other District would know about it. The thought both disturbs me and strengthens my determination. Divide and conquer. That was how the Capitol kept rebellions from happening and squashed them in the early days of Panem. Seventy years on and they are still doing the same thing.

But the only people who can communicate with people from other Districts are victors, tributes and possibly peacekeepers. Gale and I might have provided the spark for a rebellion, but it will be impossible to carry one out without proper communication. Maybe Haymitch has contacts among the other victors, maybe he could find out. Every house in Victors Village has a phone, so if he has their numbers it would be easy enough to call them. Haymitch doesn't strike me as the type to network with the other victors though, and I will be seeing them in a few months anyway. Not under ideal circumstances, and the mentor room in the Capitol is probably being watched on camera, but still.

I am shaken out of my thoughts as Peeta and Prim enter the room. Prim is holding Peeta's hand- that's been happening a lot recently and is walking with a bounce in her step. Prim doesn't seem that shaken by the events in District 8, I think. I would have expected that she would be, judging by the fact that she can't even hunt. Then again, she watches people bleeding and sometimes dying often as part of being a healer. Perhaps that desensitised her to sights like that, or maybe she just isn't showing that she was affected by it. Prim may only be thirteen, but she is mature for her age. Most girls her age would break down having a sister in the Hunger Games, but she kept calm and carried on helping people with mum. I've never noticed it before, but thinking about it now, Prim has always coped well. When dad died, she didn't fall into depression like mum did, she helped me forage for food around the District.

"Hello Katniss," Peeta says. "I brought over some more bread." He gestures to his other hand with his eyes. There are a few small loaves of bread there and a box of what is probably some sort a baked good for Prim. I wish he wouldn't keep doing this- it makes me feel uncomfortable. It would be much better if he would let me pay for my own bread- I have the money- and give what he gives me to the poorer families in Twelve that can't afford bread. How many girls in Twelve are there, I wonder, that didn't have someone like Peeta to throw them bread after their fathers were killed in mine accidents. Probably more of those than ones that were given food, even leftovers, by richer families.

It makes Prim happy though, and I doubt that Peeta's mother would let him take free bread to anybody else. He probably got in trouble for throwing me the burnt bread that would have been thrown in the bin a few years ago. I hate a lot of people, but Peeta's mother comes near the top of my list. After President Snow, Cato, Clove and about half of the Capitol, that is. She is just so shallow and selfish and I am ninety percent sure that she beats Peeta. "Thanks," I mutter to him. "So how's your life been?" I ask Peeta to make conversation. I am trusting him with Prim and he is apparently in love with me, so I should learn a but more about his life and his most likely minor problems.

Peeta's eyes widen slightly, and he starts of stumbling over his words. "Good-ish, I guess. I haven't really been affected much by Romulus Thread, I come from the merchant side of town." I nod, the merchant side has been unaffected by the law enforcement as they generally have enough money that they don't need to break the law. "Dad's been missing your squirrels," he says. "None of the other hunters can get such a clean shot." I'm surprised that he eats them himself. Most people in the merchant side of town turn up their noses at game like squirrels, because they've never been hungry enough to venture out into the woods. Probably a good thing, I can't imagine people like Peeta ever being good at hunting.

"I'll probably start hunting again soon," I tell him. "It was only for a few weeks because of Melanie and then the victory tour. I might even go out later tonight. I'm surprised that he eats them himself- aren't most of your area against eating game like squirrels. I've heard some of them say that it's disgusting before." Not all of the merchant kids are like this- Madge isn't, and she's the daughter of the mayor. But enough are that it gives merchant kids a bad name among people from the Seam.

"Yeah, he's always liked them," Peeta says. "They do taste quite good, it's just hard to forget the fact that you're eating a squirrel at first though. You wouldn't think it, but squirrel meat sandwiches actually taste great. So what do you think will happen at the Quarter Quell? he asks, changing the subject abruptly. "Wait, sorry if you didn't want to hear about the Games," he says backtracking. "I forgot that it might give you bad memories and.."

"According to a man I met in District 1, the twist will be revealed soon, possibly even today," I interrupt him. "I don't mind talking about it. The Games happened, the Quarter Quell will happen in a few months. Avoiding the subject will not change anything, and is pointless. Besides, without the Games then I probably wouldn't be getting married to Gale soon." That last sentence isn't really what Peeta would have wanted to hear, but it makes me more comfortable if I am keeping him at a distance and shoving away the idea that he loves me. "Anyway, who knows what it could be? The Capitol probably have no shortage of ideas. I think that it will be that the tributes will all be of a certain age, or maybe that they will be family. Something horrible like that."

"Maybe," Peeta says. "I guess we'll find out soon, won't we. Congratulations on your engagement by the way." Peeta bows his head slightly, looking at my ring. Also a sign of submission, I think. "Your ring is very pretty. When will the wedding be?" he asks. Good, I think that Peeta has given up on me now. Now he can love Prim- if it isn't just some crush that she had- without thoughts of me. It does make me wonder though, how did he fall in love with me? After hearing me singing and I guess he would have seen me around school before that. It seems unrealistic to think that I would fall in love with him back. It was probably just a crush that Peeta had. I hope Prim and Peeta being together is genuine, not infatuation.

"I'm not sure. Probably in a few months, I bet the Capitol will want to see it," I say resentfully. "A date wasn't arranged, but I'm guessing some time before or after the Quarter Quell." The Capitol must be having a good year this year. Extra horrible Games plus star-crossed lovers getting married. Peeta shrugs. I doubt that he minds much that our wedding will be in front of the Capitol, not him. He may have given up on me, but it still wouldn't feel good to watch someone you love getting married to another man. Especially one who hates him.

"Probably," he says. "I've got to go back to the bakery now to work, OK?" he says. "Prim, you can come with me if you want." Prim nods and walks out of the room hand in hand with Peeta. I smile as they go. Talking to Peeta makes me feel a bit uncomfortable ever since he confessed his love for me and Prim seems so happy with him. It probably was just a crush on her part at first, but if they take it slow, maybe it could grow into more. Peeta is a nice enough boy, better than most merchant kids.

Over the next few days, my anticipation for the Quarter Quell twist is rising. News has spread around the District from Peeta, Gale, Prim and I and now everyone is a bit anxious and are discussing what it might be and ways to find out. The Capitol will announce that publicly though, so there doesn't seem much point in it. A part of me is glad that I am a victor and a mentor now because it means that my name won't be in the Reaping bowl. I may have been forced to volunteer for the seventy fourth Hunger Games, but at least I have avoided the Quarter Quell.

Suddenly, a voice booms across the District. "All citizens of District 12 must report the the main square immediately for a Capitol announcement." I don't see that it could be anything other than the Quarter Quell announcement. Leaving the house, I see a torrent of people moving towards the square. Whatever the twist is for these games, I pity the ones who get chosen. Not even the adults are without fear of being picked this year.

It only takes about ten minutes for everybody to reach the main square. Effie Trinket, our escort, is at the stage in front of a microphone. She hasn't changed much from last year- same pinkish hair, same overdone make-up style. She taps the microphone. "Hello?" she asks. "Can everybody hear me?" There are some general yeses and noises of assent. Effie nods. "Good, good. Now the time has come for us to reveal to you what is to happen for the Quarter Quell this year. As you know, the seventy fifth Hunger Games will be no ordinary games."

Just get on with it Effie. You have half the District nearly having breakdowns in anticipation here. Tell us and take your Capitol-loving attitude somewhere where people won't hate you for it. Preferably far away from me. Effie pauses for effect, keeping the District waiting with bated breath.

"This year, the tributes will be chosen from the existing pool of victors," she says. There is a sigh of relief all around me and I wonder why. Then the words echo in my head. The existing pool of victors. The existing pool of victors. That means.. us. Gale and Haymitch and me. And I am the only female tribute of District 12. I don't scream like people might have expected me to, instead I just look at the floor, not meeting their pitying gazes. I must go into the seventy fifth Hunger Games as a tribute, possibly with the love of my life in there as well. And both of us can't get out alive this time.

It comes to me that the twist is a direct response to the actions of Gale and I. We defied the Capitol, therefore we must die. They can't kill us outside the Games without starting a rebellion, so they twist the Games so that we will enter them again. By our actions in our District, we have shown the victors that they have power. Therefore the other victors must be gotten rid of as well. Well-played Snow, is all that I can think. But I'm not going to let Gale go into the games for me. If Haymitch is reaped then I won't let him volunteer. If Gals is reaped, then I don't know what will happen. It's a fifty fifty chance I guess. Unless the Capitol rig the reaping ball. Which is possible I guess. I begin to calculate what will happen with a growing sense of hopelessness.

xXx-X-xXx

So what do you think of this chapter? If you have any praise or criticism, please leave a review telling me. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed or followed or favourited so far.

-MoonOfPluto


	8. Haymitch's Story

8: Haymitch's Story

Gale POV

The people of District 12 disappeared after the announcement, probably to celebrate. They don't have to go back into the Hunger Games. They don't have to watch anybody that they love going into the Hunger Games. Even more dangerous games than usual as this year everybody will have experience and skill. The career alliance won't be the only one to look out for. I feel my breath coming out quickly as I run towards Katniss. She is standing still, staring at the floor. I approach her slowly. At least I have a chance to not go into the Games.

"Katniss?" I ask cautiously. "Are you OK?" Katniss's head snaps up and I can see tears held in her eyes. She looks so broken by this announcement and I don't blame her. She is shivering and breathing slowly and I can feel the amounts of anger and fear rolling off her.

"Gale, I have to go in again," she says. She wipes her hand across her face, taking away some of the moisture from her eyes. Her voice is steady and determined. "And you have to promise me that if Haymitch is reaped, you won't volunteer. Do you promise?" she asks, staring into my eyes.

"Why would I volunteer?" I ask. "I know now that you won't let me die for you. The Capitol won't let both of us live again. If I go into the Games then it will end in either one of us being dead and the other heartbroken or both of us dead. So I promise. I promise that I won't volunteer if Haymitch is picked." And I will do my best to get Haymitch to volunteer if I am chosen, I think. Haymitch knows how important we are to the rebellion. With the right reasoning it might be possible to get him to volunteer for me. But I can't count on that.

"We need to train," Katniss says, getting her emotions under control. "This year we will be fighting against experienced and trained killers- experts. Last time we only just got out alive. We need to learn how to fight without weapons and learn to use close weapons. Maybe Haymitch can teach us. He went back to his house, I think."

"OK. He must be feeling pretty bad about this," I say. "After all, he isn't in the best shape to win another Hunger Games, so if he is reaped then he almost certainly die. It's a fifty-fifty chance for him. If I don't get reaped then I will need advice mentoring as well. Haymitch was a pretty good mentor."

We walk together back to Victors Village. On the way, we can see people celebrating the twist. Katniss and I may be well-liked in the District, or amongst the people of the Seam at least, but survival instinct wins out unless you really are in love with that person, like I was for Katniss. I wouldn't have volunteered for Madge or Prim or any of my other friends, though I would for family. I don't resent them for celebrating, I would be doing the same thing if I were in their shoes. Mixed with hatred for the Capitol of course for breaking one of the Hunger Games rules that nobody can go into an arena twice.

I wonder if this actually was the twist that was set for the third Quarter Quell or whether this was just set up by Snow to punish and kill us. My mind says the latter, though it is possible that it was coincidence. Seems unlikely though. It makes me hate Snow more than I usually do. We played his games the way he wanted. I proposed, I acted that I love the Capitol. Maybe it was because of what happened in District 8, though killing me off will just make them want to rebel more.

Maybe Snow just wants revenge, just wants to see us die. I doubt that though. Snow doesn't seem the type to act on his emotions, doesn't seem the type to crave revenge. No, what he wants is power- and power is kept by making the logical decisions. That's part of what makes him so dangerous. He isn't like the cartoon villains that heroes can provoke into making a reckless decision and letting them kill him and save the day. He is more comparable to a robot. No emotions, no morals. Only logic and a hunger to be obeyed. He has no better side that we can appeal too, he has no weakness.

Are Katniss and I heroes? Perhaps we are. We are certainly better than Snow. We don't kill for no reason- but then, neither does he. We killed to survive, given the chance I would have killed Romulus Thread for whipping Katniss's face. I would kill out of love for Katniss or self-preservation. Snow kills for his love of power. But does it matter if it is love for an idea or love for a person? I would die for an idea, the idea of a free Panem. Killing is killing. Maybe Katniss and I aren't the heroes. Maybe we are the villains.

It all depends on the perspective. To the people in the outer districts,the Capitol are oppressive and cruel and their leader is evil. To the people of Districts 1 and 2 and the Capitol, the people in the outlying Districts must be seen as savages, uneducated and barbaric. Maybe they feel sorry for us. If we led a rebellion then we would be hated. Is the system so bad that we should start a war over it, I wonder.

Rebellion is war. Starting a war will get people killed. And indirectly, those people will be my kills. My fault for starting a rebellion and if we are defeated, the punishment that the Capitol will give us will be blood on my hands. What is better- a slow, steady tyranny? A few people dying each year that we could save. Fifty perhaps, counting tributes and people that the Capitol kill for "crimes". Or a war that will save these people in the future, but kills thousands now.

I wish that I could just turn off that nagging voice in my head like I could in the Games. In the Hunger Games, it was simple. Kill or be killed. And whilst I felt sad about killing that girl from District 8, it honestly didn't bother me that much. I wasn't going to lie awake for days after it thinking if it was the right thing to do. The Games were almost like one constant adrenaline rush, always alert and quick to act. Killing first and asking questions later. That world suited me better. Here the decisions are dragged out and letting an act slip for one second can be fatal.

I beat the door to Haymitch's house. "It's open," I hear Haymitch grunt from inside. I twist the knob and Katniss and I enter the cluttered mess that is Haymitch's life. Alcohol bottles strewn across the floor with mud all over the carpet and clothes thrown around here and there. The smell is disgusting, some sort of a stale, dirty stench that permeates everything in the house. Haymitch is sitting on a sofa with a half-empty bottle of liquor in front of him. He must have built up quite a tolerance to still be able to react to them normally after all of that. But seeing Haymitch like this makes me glad that my way of coping with the after-effects of the Games is to hunt not to drink or take drugs.

"We came for advice about the Games," Katniss says. "I'm definitely going in this year, so I need your help. You've been a victor and a mentor for much longer than we have. Do you think you could give us some training, or at least some info on the other victors for us? It would help the rebellion." The word rebellion makes Haymitch perk up. Some sort of trigger in him that will make him help us. Haymitch would do anything for the rebellion, that I know. Something must have happened with the Capitol in the past, something more than the Hunger Games. Something that would make him really hate them.

"I could," Haymitch says. His voice is slightly slurred, but understandable. "You need training," he says. "You barely made it through the Games last year and that was with being a career for half of it and having a stable alliance for the other half. And half of the Capitol sponsoring you. You have no idea, do you? What it's like to be in true danger. Alone, being hunted by trained killers after the death of your love. No gifts coming from the sky. Starving, injured and with no hope. Do you?"

The harshness of his words shock and anger me. He thinks that we don't know hardship? After we suffered through the Hunger Games together, believing that I would certainly die. Winning, just to find out that the danger is not gone yet. To have our loved ones threatened? "What do you know of hardship?" I spit at him. "You went into the Games. So did we. And you didn't go in knowing that you would have to give up your life to save your love. You didn't have to worry that your family might go hungry. And you didn't have to worry about starting a bloody war after you won!"

"Do you even know which Games I won?" shouts Haymitch. He doesn't wait for me to answer and I don't know. "The fiftieth Hunger Games. The second Quarter Quell. Twice as many tributes!" He gets off the sofa and roots around the corner of the room. He emerges, an small object in his hands. He throws it at me hard and my reflexes kick in. I snatch it out of the air the edges stinging my hands. "Put that into your player," he orders me. "Come back once you've watched it." His anger has passed now and he sounds more weary.

Perhaps coming when he was drunk was a bad idea, but at least we have something about Haymitch's past now. Once we know what happened in his games we might be able to understand him better. The fact that Haymitch survived a Quarter Quell surprises me though. I have wondered in the past how he survived a regular Games, let alone twice as many tributes. Katniss and I walk back to my house and go up to my bedroom. We put the tape in the TV.

"Welcome to the 50th Annual Hunger Games!" a voice booms from the screen. Claudius Templesmith, I think. "And may the odds be ever in your favour.." The screen cuts to the tributes standing around the cornucopia in the arena. They have twice the length to run because of the size of the circle now. I wonder if Haymitch runs away or stays to fight it out at the cornucopia. The arena itself is beautiful. A lush valley with flowers all around, stunning mountains at the edge. Something more special than the usual arena. The bong goes off and the tributes jump off their platforms. Around half of them run away to hide in some of the woods around or in the bushes, but Haymitch runs for the middle.

A flurry of cannons sound. I am jolted back in time to my own games, the adrenaline rush of I ran towards the middle fighting off tributes. I push the memory away and focus my eyes on the screen. Haymitch has killed a boy and a girl and has a large, double-sided axe in his hands. Both sides are red with blood and the camera zooms in on his face. He is twitching slightly and their is an insane gleam in his eyes. Then the camera cuts away to a few other careers, who are looking proud and bloodthirsty. Maybe Haymitch will join the career pack, but I can't see that coming.

Then the screen switches to something else. Tributes are falling out of the bushes, grasping at their throats. They can't breathe, I realise. Their must have been something poisonous in those bushes. It comes to me. The flowers, which I had thought so beautiful, we're actually killing machines. They release poisonous gas into the air so that when the tributes hid in the bushes and probably smelt the flowers, they would die. Smart, a good way to get more action. And a sick way to kill children who didn't want to kill. At least it was a quick death.

The bloodbath is now ending and a career comes up to Haymitch. The career is tall and well-muscled with blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair is stained with blood and he has a sword sheathed at his side. His beauty marks him as District 1. "You are fairly effective with that axe," he says. "Join us?" Haymitch looks up. I notice that he has a belt of knives now as well as the axe and their is a backpack on his back. The insane look has not left his eyes as he looks up at the career boy.

"Join you?" he shouts. "Never! You're heartless murderers!" he swings his axe towards the head of the career boy, who is too shocked to do anything, and it connects with a dull thud. He pulls it out quickly and starts to run towards the woodland area. The other careers chase him and are gaining on his quickly. Haymitch throws the axe behind him and it connects with the head of another career. The camera shows as the career falls down in slow motion. His face is completely cleaved in half by the axe and blood is quickly welling up around it. I can even see the brains and wonder how the Capitolites enjoy watching this.

Haymitch has climbed up a tree and is going higher and higher. There is some doubt amongst the careers. From what I remember, there were very few climbable trees in Districts 1 and 2 and the careers don't seem to pay attention to climbing in training, in the Capitol or in their own training centres. The lead career spits on the ground. "We lost him," he says. "We'd better get back to the cornucopia to stop those outlying wimps from stealing our supplies.

The games continue quite quickly and I realise that despite the number of tributes, these games are some of the shortest. Nobody except for the careers and District 11 tributes can eat because they have supplies or know what berries are and aren't safe. And for the eleven tributes, there is very little safe food that they can find. Haymitch slowly eats through the supplies in his backpack and kills some tributes with his knives and gradually makes his way over to the mountains. I am surprised to see Maysilee Donner in the games, she was Madge's aunt if I remember correctly. She's quite resourceful, more than I would expect for someone brought up in the mayor's family. She gets killed by a career though. Perhaps she was who Haymitch meant by his love.

Near to the end, there are only two tributes left. Haymitch is crawling towards the edge of the arena and the District 1 girl is following him. She has an axe in her hand, the same axe that Haymitch used to kill her District partner. She wants revenge for that and she wants to win. I wonder how Haymitch got out alive. If anything the Games seem to have made her fitter than before and Haymitch can barely even stand up.

Haymitch starts to taunt her, making her angry. She screams and throws the axe at his head. Haymitch drops to the floor, ducking just in the nick of time. The axe sails over the edge of the arena and the District 1 girl, Sylvia, screams in frustration. She runs over to him to kill him with her own hands, but it is coming back. The axe sails back over the mountainside and hits her in the head, cleaving her whole head in half. The force field, I realise. Haymitch took the Capitol's tool and used it as a weapon in his own games. So that is why Haymitch got into the rebellion.

I look over at Katniss, who has her eyes glued to the screen as the tributes and their descriptions come up. She looks angry and I suddenly understand why. Haymitch has no family. Snow threatens to kill the families of those who rebel. Haymitch must have rebelled against him and had everyone he loved killed as a result. No wonder he drinks. And now I know why Haymitch is so interested in the rebellion. It's about more than opposing a dictatorship to him, for him it is about vengeance for the death of his family and Maysilee.

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Sorry I took about three weeks to update. I just forgot to write even though I had this chapter fully planned out. Anyway, please leave a review telling me if you liked this chapter or have any constructive criticism. Thanks to those who have already reviewed, followed or favourited, and especially to TheFire who has reviewed every chapter so far.

-MoonOfPluto


	9. Training and Agreements

9: Training and Agreements

Gale POV

Katniss and I knock on Haymitch's door again. I have a lot more respect for him now that I know what actually happened in his life; now I can see why he drinks and doesn't generally mentor very well. If Katniss and my family were killed then I doubt that hunting would be enough to help me cope. I would be fixated on vengeance like he is. Perhaps before the Quarter Quell, Haymitch was just like I was. The video makes me wonder exactly how much Haymitch knows about a rebellion though. The Capitol wouldn't kill his whole family just for the stunt in the arena, there had to be more to it. Haymitch must have got properly involved with a rebellion.

Haymitch opens the door. He looks better than he did when we came about an hour ago, less drunk. Less angry with the world. "What?" he asks us. He gestures for us to come in. "I don't have a whole load of time ahead of me, do you want to tell me what you're here for?" he asks impatiently. Katniss and I step through the door and follow Haymitch deeper into his house, weaving around the empty liquor bottles. My hand clasps tighter around the tape in my hand and I wonder what abilities he could be hiding from us. He may seem like just an old drunk, but he was lethal with that axe.

"We watched the Games," I tell him. "Your Games." I hold out the tape to him. He snatches it and throws it down at the sofa. "I understand what you meant now," I press him. "About my Games being easier than yours." I pause, wondering if I should stop now. Haymitch is my only hope to get out of the Quarter Quell, can I afford to disagree with him? Pride wins out and a need to be understood. Haymitch won't pay any attention to my opinion if he thinks I'm just a child who doesn't know real hardship. "But my Games weren't easy," I continue. "And I went in sure that I wouldn't come out. You're not the only one who's been through a lot. I know what it's like to be hopeless."

"Of course you do," he mutters. "You're here for advice, I guess. To train. Am I right?" he asks us. "You think that I can teach you how to survive against career victors and people who tear people's throats out with their bloody teeth? If you watched my games then you will realise that I would have died if I hadn't had a stroke of inspiration with the force field. There's not much I can do for you other than to give you advice on what to work on."

"Fine," Katniss says eagerly. "Advise us. Tell me what I can do to stay alive, to come back to Prim and mum. Tell me how I can avoid being killed and don't you dare give me the same advise as you did last year. Telling me to stay alive won't give me any advantage over people who tear out throats with their teeth."

Haymitch shrugs and walks in front of Katniss. He looks her up and down and prods her arms and stomach a bit. "Get more muscle," he tells her. "Right now you'll be next to useless in a hand to hand fight against any tribute. Remember when Clove pinned you back at the cornucopia. If you could run faster and were stronger then that wouldn't have happened." He pauses. "And it's one person. Enobaria. District 2 victor. Before your time, she's around thirty now."

Enobaria. I file the name away in my memory, reminding myself to keep an eye out for her in the Games. It isn't so usual that a career will go insane in the Games as I think they have some sort of psychological training. Then again, the type of person who would volunteer is probably somewhat insane anyway. As a career, that is. I think that most people would volunteer for a sibling that they loved, though perhaps not for a girlfriend to protect her.

"What about me?" I ask. "What do I need to work on?" I have muscle- I can fight hand to hand. Shortly after the Games I started teaching myself to fight without weapons incase somebody tried to attack me. Seeing as I would have money and might have become a person that District 12 would hate it seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. Nobody did attack me, but it seems to have come in useful.

"Strategy," he says. "Last time you relied on Aravis for strategy a lot of the time. And the careers don't need strategy, they're strong enough. You need to be able to outsmart them. Watch past Hunger Games. See if you can pick up anything that other tributes have used. Try to picture yourself in their situation and think what you would have done. You would need it as a mentor as well- assuming you aren't stupid enough to volunteer."

"I'm not stupid," I tell him. "I know they won't let us both out alive again." His words make sense to me though. Strategy is useful both as a tribute and a mentor. "If I am reaped, could you volunteer for me?" I ask hopefully. "Won't it be better for the rebellion if I stay safe?" Mention of the rebellion should help persuade him.

Haymitch sighs. "I value my life," he says. "Maybe. It depends on what happens with the rebellion and what will be best for the cause. Maybe it won't even come to the reaping if everything is successful. But I wouldn't count on it. Be prepared for either situation Gale. It would help you to get to know some of the victors in the rebellion- chances are they will be reaped."

I shrug. It was better than I expected, I honestly didn't think that he would even entertain the thought of volunteering. He may even care more about the rebellion than about self-preservation. And he has a point about the Capitol rigging the reaping so that suspected rebellion victors are chosen. I wonder which ones they are though. And which ones I would meet in the mentor room- probably quite a few victors are on our side. Most victors from outer Districts I would think.

"True," I say. "Do you have any Games that I could watch?" I ask him. "And which victors are rebellion and which ones aren't? There are bound to be some mentor victors aren't there? And is the mentor room on camera? Can we discuss plans there?" I don't want to destroy the rebellion by discussing our plans in the wrong place.

"I have most of the Games," Haymitch says. "Finnick, Annie, Johanna, Beetia, Wiress, Chaff, Seeder, Electra and Mags are the ones that I know of. The ones that I communicate with. There are probably more though. And are you stupid? Of course the mentor room is on camera and if it wasn't then you still wouldn't be able to discuss plans there because of all the career victors there."

"Oh," I say, feeling stupid. I need to think of these things in future if I don't want to mess up the rebellion. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Just go watch the videos. Katniss, work on your strength. And remember that all of the rebellion is hanging on you getting this right. So stay alive." Haymitch's advice is slightly more useful than last year, but he couldn't resist putting in stay alive. As if I'm a bit hazy on the concept of wanting to live.

Over the next few months, Katniss and I spend most of our free time training. Katniss and I practise hand-to-hand combat together and she ends up beating me about a third of the time, which is an improvement from the beginning. We watch the videos of the Hunger Games together, commenting on what we would have done as tributes or as mentors.

President Snow is true to his word with Katniss and Romulus Thread leaves District 12 after being put on trial for his treatment of Melanie. This means that we can spend a lot of time in the woods, practising climbing, swimming and hunting. We also practiced for sword-fighting using sticks, as swords are the most common weapons in the arena.

After the few months of training, I can easily tell the difference. My muscles are more defined now, I can run faster, my reflexes are better, I can climb higher. I'm stronger. More ready. But if a few months of training can make this much difference for me, it worries me what it will do for the other victors. Career victors probably spend half of their lives training and they have the resources in their career academies to master any weapon.

Then again, maybe most of the victors are like Haymitch. Coping with the aftermath of the Games by drinking or taking drugs instead of training or hunting like Katniss and I did. Then having more experienced victors will be better. And we have some good victors in the rebellion side. I know Finnick and Johanna are very skilled with tridents and axes respectively. Finnick can swim. Johanna can climb. Beetie is from District 3, so he'll know all about electronics. Maybe he'll be able to rewire the mines like the careers did last year.

I can't stop wondering about the reaping though. Now, a few hours before the reaping, it is obvious that their will be a rescue coming from the rebellion. And Haymitch didn't speak to me again about the possibility of him volunteering. And the chances of him being reaped are low, very low. It should be fifty-fifty, but I really doubt that this will be a fair reaping. The chances of Snow leaving something like that to chance are about the same as the chances that he's actually a nice guy who wants us both to live. In other words zero.

I pull on a suit for the reaping. For some reason I have to dress up for the occasion where I will almost certainly be called up to die. My family are waiting downstairs for me. I can see that Posy has just been crying because her eyes are red and watery, but she's trying to put on a brave face for me. I walk over to her and give her a big hug and kiss her on the forehead.

"It's going to be OK Posy," I reassure her. "I might not even get picked at all. It's either me or Haymitch and he might be volunteering if I get picked." She looks up at me and I wipe the tears away from her face. Her arms wrap around me tightly and then she lets go, looking down again.

"What if he doesn't get picked though?" Posy asks. "What if he doesn't volunteer? You'll die because you won't kill Katniss or let Katniss die. You love her too much." I swallow guiltily. She's right, if I do get picked then I will give up my life for Katniss if necessary. The chances of me getting out alive are low. But Posy understands. I would give up my life for her if she was in Katniss's position.

"Then I have to go in," I admit. "And I probably will die." I hesitate, trying to think of a way not to make her panic more. There is no way of sugar coating this though. "Posy, if I do die then I don't want you to be depressed. Try to carry on with your everyday life. Never take any tesserae, even if my victory money runs out. And remember that I never stopped loving you."

Posy nods solemnly. "I won't," she whispers to me. Suddenly her arms are around me again and I hug her back, enjoying her warmth. "But please don't get reaped," she murmurs to me. "It was horrible when you were away last time. I wanted to think that you would come back alive but I knew that you wouldn't kill Katniss and when they changed the rules at the end.." she trails off. "It was horrible. Just don't get reaped."

I smile dryly. "It isn't my intention Posy," I say to her. "Trust me, I don't want to go into the Games any more than you want me to go in." Posy sniffs and backs away from me. She tries to smile, but the corners of her mouth are wobbling. Posy isn't good at hiding her emotions like I am. She's never had to though and I hope for her sake that she never has to in the future. Even as I think it I know that it isn't likely though. I am a major figure in the rebellion and as my sister she will be exposed to this world of lying and acting and manipulating. All I can hope for is that it happens when she's a little bit older. Nine is too young to get caught up in all of this.

I turn to Rory, whose face is more impassive. My time in the seventy fourth games really affected him. I'm not sure if the changes are good or bad. He's a lot more independent now and is less sensitive. He's braver and more mature than he was before. But he seems to have lost the playfulness that he used to have, that he kept even when our father died. He isn't the baby brother that I have to protect from everything anymore, I remind myself. He's stronger now.

"I love you Gale," he says seriously. "You know it already but I really do. And I don't want you to feel guilty about abandoning us if you are reaped or if you sacrifice yourself for Katniss. It's your life and I know that you would be willing to do the same for me. Good luck," he says. "But I really would prefer it if you didn't get reaped."

I smile at him and nod. A lump is forming in my throat. I don't want to leave all of this behind. It would have been so much easier for me if I had never volunteered. Peeta would have protected Katniss as well as he could. Katniss was probably skilled enough to win all on her own. But Katniss and the rebellion are worth the trouble. I can't imagine life without Katniss in it anymore and it is selfish of me to want to give up on making Panem a much better place just because I want to stay with my family.

There is a moment of silence and my mother leads us towards the door. I see Katniss walking about twenty metres ahead of me with her family. Part of me wants to run up to her and talk but this is her own family moment. It may be the last chance she gets to be alone with Prim and her mum. I don't want to interrupt even if I do want her comfort and to say goodbye to her coming up to the reaping.

A large crowd has already formed in the main square. A stage has been set up for the reaping and I see the two identical glass reaping balls sitting on stands. They are filled with folded pieces of paper. Katniss Everdeen. Gale Hawthorne. Haymitch Abernathy- unlikely but possible. I have a flashback to last year. The scene around me fades as I remember the feeling of apprehension, but also some happiness. Last year was supposed to be my last reaping. The chances were that I wouldn't be picked, even having forty two tesserae. I thought I would make it out without having to take part in a Hunger Games.

The memory ends as I look around. I am walking purposefully through the crowd, cutting a swathe through the people. They keep their distance, moving away whenever I come near them. Near to the front of the crowd are Haymitch and Katniss, in separate sections. Girls and boys. Ladies come first in the reaping which will only add to the suspense. Katniss looks up briefly and we make eye contact. I give her an encouraging smile before walking up next to Haymitch.

We have to wait for an agonising few minutes as the last of the citizens walk into the square and the Capitol camera crews start preparing. They want to get the perfect shot of this to broadcast across Panem, I think bitterly. To show the people that no matter how hard they try to escape, Snow will always manipulate situations to his advantage. Will always win. I have a death stare on my face as I watch the Capitol train open.

Effie Trinket walks out. She doesn't seem much different to how I saw her last time. She still has the distinctive Capitol look, her pink hair, the over-the-top make up that just makes her seem clown-like. She doesn't even seem sad that she will be sending at least one of us to our death. If anything she seems happier than usual, a huge smile on her face. Of course, she must be excited about the Quarter Quell. Even Capitolites that I see as too stupid to be any kind of a threat are still happy about this sort of thing. Monsters.

She walks up to the reaping balls. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" she squeals in her Capitol accent. "The reaping for the seventy fifth annual Hunger Games, the Third Quarter Quell! As you all know, the lucky tributes this year will be chosen from the existing pool of victors." Effie pauses, her hand dramatically swirling over the reaping bowl. "Ladies first." Her hands dips down, seizing on of the scraps of paper with Katniss's name on it.

"Katniss Everdeen!" she announces.

The three-fingered salute of District 12 spreads across the crowd like ripples. The last time I saw this happen was in District 8 on the victory tour, but I know that the peacekeepers have better things to do than shoot whoever started it. It spread so quickly I doubt they even know who started it.

My eyes fixate on Effie's hand, now twirling over the men's reaping bowl. Katniss has gone up on the stage, looking strong and firm, standing next to Effie. The fingers plunge down, plucking a folded piece of paper from the reaping bowl. She unfolds it panfully slowly and begins to read out the name. I feel my heart thudding in my chest as she starts to speak.

"Haymitch Abernathy!"

xXx-X-xXx

I am so sorry that this chapter is so late. I can't even say I had writers block as I had the chapter all planned out. Hopefully now that I've got back into fanfic writing the next chapter will be up a bit faster. Surprised that Haymitch was reaped and not Gale? Please follow, favourite or give me some feedback in a review. Thanks to those who have already done so.

-MoonOfPluto


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